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Blended Learning:  Strategies for 6th Grade Science Students

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Guadalupe Mata-Claflin

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Literature Review

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Lamar University

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EDLD 5314

 

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Introduction

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            As all educators are aware in today’ educational learning environment, the way students are learning is different in every school and classroom.  Therefore, it is of upmost importance that everyone involved with students make all adjustments necessary to assure that all issues in learning are solved.  Research states that Blended Learning models are successful in students’ learning.  “Blended learning is any formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path/or pace” (Horn, M.B., & Staker, H., 2015, p.33).  Therefore, many school districts are jumping onboard by implementing blended learning models.  If the model is implemented with success, there will be in increase in higher student test scores/grades, student engagement, intervention strategies and aligned teacher trainings.  The following literature reviews have supported the success in the issues stated above.

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Low Science test scores (STARR Test) and Six Weeks Grades

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            This article discusses how the United States keeps falling behind other nations in Science and Math.  Darling-Hammond (2014-2015) stresses that our teachers are facing more poverty and larger class sizes.  She lists some policy implications that we can learn from other countries. The U.S. supports its children less than other countries. Our country is requiring more testing with consequences for teachers such as, firing them, denying diplomas to students and closing schools.   Other countries value their teachers more by paying them more and delivers more ongoing professional development.  Our classes need to be smaller like other countries to reduce behavior problems increase learning. Other countries also focus on creating teacher collaboration and create meaningful teacher evaluation. 

            Our schools are supported by taxes, and every family pays those taxes. In exchange, we promise (or should promise) that we will do our utmost to provide an excellent education for every student who walks through our doors (Weigle, 2012).  She strongly feels that every one of our students can make significant yearly academic progress no matter the quality of their home life.  The teachers need to adopt the mindset that every student in their class is equal regardless of their family background.  All students that come from a disadvantaged background should be provided with every resource at their disposal.  Every teacher should have a classroom filled with children who are ready to learn.

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            According to a report from Hanover Research (2017), they summarized empirical research on school-based strategies for closing the achievement gap.  To eliminate this gap which is a complex process and requires the support of multiple stakeholders and various interventions.  Some of their key findings requires coordination among administrators, teachers, parents and students to reduce the gap.  There needs to be high expectations of the students with strong teacher-student relationships.  Due to the fact, that our country is comprised of a growing diverse culture student population, teachers need to be trained to value diversity and incorporate cultural knowledge into their teaching.    It is recommended that family involvement is positively associated with higher student achievement and increased graduation rates.  This article consists of tables and graphs with excellent strategies and practices.

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Students Off Task

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            This is a report that entails five school districts in Texas that received a 5-year grant to implement Raising Blended Learners (RBL).  The foundation will have a yearly report on the evaluation of each site.  This report includes an initial set of cross-site lessons learned which will assist other educators in Texas and across the country.  This article is going to be very beneficial to my plan because one of the sites is located about 40 miles from me.  They are comprised of the same student population as our school.  Their strategies can be aligned to our issues that we are facing.  Collaboration among students and teachers will be emphasized to meet their goals.  They planned to increase self-direction in learning and improved student goal setting.  Their goal is to transform teaching and learning practices and increase student motivation and with the goal of better preparing students for postsecondary education.  Since it was the first year, they were just laying out the foundation of the plan.

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            When students let their minds wonder in class, they are losing valuable learning time.  Sometimes even teachers seem bored at faculty meetings or trainings.  We have seen them having private conversations, texting, grading papers or other off task things that are not related to their meeting.  Getting all your students focused, eager and on task at the beginning of class is challenging enough (Frondeville, 2009).  He discusses 10 rules of engagement which are aimed at all grade levels. One of the rules is to teach students how to collaborate before expecting success.  He recommends running a tight ship when giving instructions.  This is one area where many educators have trouble.  To keep students involved and on their toes, mix up teaching styles.  All his rules can be successful, but they might have to be modified depending on what kind of group of students one has, especially if a teacher has several classes all day long.

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            Condron (2012) recommends 12 ways to motivate students to expand their short attention span.  Teachers need to implement them at the beginning at the year for them to work.  She states that the teachers have the most power to motivate them since they are on the front lines.  There needs to be more parent involvement for students to also be motivated.  Out of the 12 ways, I felt that there were three excellent pointers that we will follow: praise the students as much as you can, spread excitement in class like if it was a virus and keep track improvement and conference with student about it.  Students can be praised by sending positive notes home, hold weekly awards in class or educators can make their own that will be cater to their group type.  Teachers need to bring excitement into the classroom by finding ways that their students are wanting to come to class every day and learn.

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Lack of Intervention Strategies

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            If you are one of those educators who love to try different things here are 5 strategies listed below that might come handy for you to engage students better than before (Grupta, 2016).  In this article, 5 teaching strategies to engage students using technology are recommended.  The use of multimedia and creating it might take a bit longer to implement in a regular class time but it can be extended for days.  Students will collaborate and communicate during this experience.  Social media might not be permitted in some schools, but the teacher can pull lessons from here and use it to teach as a lesson.  The use of variety of resources can include blogs, podcasts and videos.  Again, they might not be allowed but the teacher can always integrate them in their lessons. Using educational games is one of the best ways to use technology in the classroom to make students eager for learning.  There are numerous Science games either through software or game boards.  One can use technology to empower students to explain their ideas or to allow the students to have a voice. There are modern-technology art forms such as, podcasting or You Tube that encourage artistic expression among our diverse student population.

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            In this study, 7th grade students were observed completing a series of lessons in an online Science course to explore their thinking and strategies.  Schafer-Mayse (2015) stated that the purpose of this study was to determine what can be learned about how students are using online lesson resources for learning when they are choosing them as self-directed learners. Ongoing communication are especially helpful for students who have learning disabilities and attention deficits.  Students using more resources for their learning earned higher end-of-lesson assessment scores. They could also explain specific examples of what they just learned after their lesson completion. 

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            Brown (2016) stresses that students have social and personal needs to fulfil and communicate these needs in different ways.  She reviewed communication studies to provide educators of diverse classrooms with ideas to build an environment that contributes to student well-being.  Research in classroom management models is moving away from traditional teacher led to models that empowers students over their own learning.  A teacher needs to be responsive and mindful when their classroom has a range of personalities.  The teacher’s attitude and communication depend on the student’s success.  Two of the studies focused on intervention strategies that assists with social and language communication skills development. 

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Lack of Teacher Trainings

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            This is a study that investigated the goal-setting approaches of 11 middle grade teachers during the first year of their implementation of a statewide, personalized learning initiative.  Personalized learning has received growing attention in recent years, in part due to its potential to provide equal opportunities for all students (De-Mink, Olofson, LeGeros, Netcoh & Hennessey, 2017).  The study identified five approaches to goal setting that teachers use in the public middle schools.  They recommend the need for educators to align goal-setting approaches of personalized learning environments to empower students as co-designers of their own learning.  They suggest that there needs to be more research on personalized learning in middle level education.

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            Effective teacher training is the key to success.  Many states face teacher shortages especially in the areas of Science and Math.  Kelly (2017) states that there are five reasons that teachers need to have effective training programs.  This kind of training assists in preparing new teachers for the challenges they will face each day.  They should also address teacher burnout by focusing on the subject the teacher will be teaching.  Teachers need to be trained on understanding of the benchmarks (tests) for achievement.  Not only will teachers be trained on how to interpret these scores but also how to create effective benchmarks/lessons for student achievement.  New teachers need effective mentoring to assist them to understand what is required from them.  The supervising teacher should be involved in providing feedback to assist student teachers learn.  Finally, teachers should not experiment with new lessons and techniques without proper training.  This can cost student learning to fail instead of the student achieving in class.

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            This report describes a practicum projects designed to help teachers acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and strategies necessary to work effectively with a diverse student population.  Chapman (1996) stated that the goal of this practicum was to improve the academic performance and social behavior of culturally diverse students.  They had good outcomes at the end of the implementation.  Time on task observations indicated that students were on task 80 visits out of 100 visits.  Referrals to the office were reduced by half which indicated that the teachers were being successful meeting the needs of their students.  End of the year report indicated that there was a reduction in student retention and remedial placement.  Strategies to improve classroom management included working with each teacher individually on areas of need based upon observation.  They included a series of 10 teacher workshops to improve the academic progress of culturally diverse students.  Each workshop covered a different area where teachers needed the most help in addressing the needs of these students.

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Conclusion

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            Schools are hoping that the blended learning model will assist their students to succeed in all the issues that are blocking their learning.  If they implement this model with success, their students’ test scores/grades should increase while using their intervention strategies.  Well-developed professional development trainings can assure that all issues can be resolved with success.

 

      

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References

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Brown, R. (2016).  Communication in a Diverse Classroom: An Annotated Bibliographic Review.

     https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED570878.pdf

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Chapman, Shirley M. (1996).  Using Effective Teaching Strategies to Improve the Academic Performance of Culturally Diverse Students in a Public Elementary School.

    

     https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED401012

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Condron, A. (2012).  How to Motivate Students: Top 12 Ways | Teachhub

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     www.teachhub.com/top-12-ways-motivate-students

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Darling-Hammon, L. (Winter 2014-2015).  Want to Close the Achievement Gap?

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     https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1049111.pdf

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Demink-Carthew, Olofson, M. LeGeros, L., Netcoh, S. & Hennessey, S. (2017).   An Analysis of Approaches to Goal Setting in Middle Grades Personalized Learning Environments.

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     https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19404476.2017.1392689

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Frondeville, T. (2009).  How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class | Edutopia

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     https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-student-participation-tips

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Grupta, P. (2016).  5 Teaching Strategies to Engage Students Using Technology

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     edtechreview.in/trends-insights/.../2271-effective-teaching-strategies

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Hanover Research (2017).  School-based Strategies for Narrowing the Achievement Gap

     https://www.wasa-oly.org/WASA/images/WASA/1.0 Who We Are/1.4.1.6.

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Kelly, M. (2017).  Importance of Effective Teacher Training.  Why Effective Teacher Training

 

     https://www.thoughtco.com/importance-of-effective-teacher-training-8306

 

Raising Blended Learners Year One Implementation Report

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     https://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/foundation/blended/initiative-overview/2017-implementation-report/

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Schafer-Mayse, D. (2015).  How 7th Grade Students Are Using Resources for Learning in an Online Science Course.

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     https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1148614.pdf

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Weigle, B. (2012).  Closing the Achievement Gap One Student at a Time.

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     https://www.edutopia.org/blog/closing-the-achievement-gap-betsy-weigle.